Monday, November 26, 2012

A Season of Serenity at Home (Christmas Series)

Today, I'm introducing a new Christmas series that I'll be running here at Serenity Now throughout the Christmas season. I've got Christmas projects, tips, recipes, activities, and more to share. Everything in the series is designed as a way to inspire you without overwhelming you. I want my focus on the important things this holiday season, so we're keeping things simple. Join me and some completely fabulous guest posters over the course of the next month for this year's series: A Season of Serenity at Home.

When I think of traditional Christmas, I think of spending time with my family, wrapping gifts for loved ones, sending out holiday cards, and singing Christmas carols while I decorate my home and bake goodies.

I try not to think about waiting in line at the post office, stressing out over trying to keep up with other bloggers, keeping family commitments, or the awful Christmas-tree-lights-debacle from last year that had me throw a tantrum in front of my kids that has probably scarred them for life. Words were said and things were thrown.

Yet, those mishaps have a way of becoming reality, don't they? I have, on occasion, found myself wondering why exactly I stress out over creating the "perfect" holiday. Am I celebrating the true spirit of the season? Is my focus on my family and the One whose birth we honor on December 25th?

Sadly, I spent my fair share of holiday seasons wondering if various projects might be a hit with readers. I worried over not having enough extra money to buy new accessories to keep up with all the creations pouring into the blogosphere. I spent too much time messing around on blog posts and not enough time enjoying the season with my kids and husband.

This series is as much for me as it is for you. I love trying new crafts, recipes, and activities. But I don't love stressing out about spending extra money on expensive supplies, fitting everything on my "perfect holiday list" in, posting about it, and feeling like I just don't measure up.

Won't you join me for a season of Serenity?

Fill your home with love, and joy, and maybe a few cute Christmas crafts that won't break your budget. I appreciate you understanding why I'm bringing in some guest posters this month. I love sharing creative ideas with you all, and I also love enjoying the holiday season without spending extra time on the laptop. I have a great line-up of posts for you: recipes, tutorials, activities, and more. You won't want to miss it!

I'll be using this post to catalog each post, so be sure to Pin or bookmark this URL to have a little library of Christmas fun!

14 comments:

Amanda, we all need this series! I'm looking forward to it very much. Since you'll use this post to catalog all the posts, I'm pinning this right now! Thank you for your wisdom and foresight in putting this all together.

I lol'd for real at your mention of last year's christmas lights fiasco "words were said and things were thrown." I HATE doing the lights on the tree. This year, I put the tree up and my dh put the lights on. :)

What a great sentiment. I'm trying to get over that perfectionist tendency too. Last weekend we put up the Christmas tree, and I actually have left all the ornaments right where hubby and daughter put them. OK, I can't say for certain that every one of them will stay where they are. But hey, I've been living with it for 3 days now! We also decided that we're going to do a potluck-style get-together with friends this year, rather than us doing everything and stressing about it. I bet it'll be way more fun this way. I don't know why I feel the need to stage my house so it's "magazine worthy!" Only a few friends and family ever see it anyway. Anyway, here's wishing you and your readers a serene holiday!

This is Me

I'm a stay-at-home mom of three kids, a fluffy Pomeranian, and a rambunctious German Shepherd puppy. Happily married to T. We live in Virginia, but I secretly dream of what it would be like to have a place in NYC to escape to for random girls' shopping weekends. Target is my home away from home. I stay sane by doing creative projects around my home and taking lots of pictures. Stick around for realistic inspiration...on a budget!

Blog Design By:

All the photos and text on this blog are copyright protected. You may share photos from this blog IF linked back to their original posts and for the sole purpose of featuring my work. Please let me know when you have done so. You may not copy entire articles and posts (even if you link back to me) without my express permission. You may email any such request to amandaserenitynow(at) gmail (dot) com. Please do NOT borrow the pictures to sell your own goods. Thank you!